Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

I said I might start this topic so here goes......

Sorry but I'm going to bore you guys again with some observations and questions which hopefully you will be able to answer.

Leisure time - It must be difficult entertaining hundreds, (if not thousands, I don't know the size of the population at CH), of students in their time off. Are they left to entertain themselves or is most of it organised?
I can't imagine that each student will have a tv in their room so would I be right in thinking that there are lots of fights as to who gets to watch what on tv?

I recently found this quote on another website and it is from a parent considering sending their child to CH. Would anyone know how true (or false) this statement is?

'We observed far too many pupils looking fatigued, vulnerable, miserable and unkempt. The latter was awful in some cases e.g. badly worn out shoes - all that marching I suspect.

We found the staff, the Head included, very unwelcoming and aloof. There was not a glimmer of interest or enthusiasm from any of them. As for the resources, equipment etc, they were below what one would expect. I accept, that our expectations were perhaps a tad high, but these are legitimate issues. '

As I said, this is the Trivia room, so please feel free to place as much CH trivia as you want in here.

Thanks in advance

Hello Shoz,

Can you tell us where you found this quote?

It's a little difficult to comment about something which is out of context.

Ta!

shoz wrote:I said I might start this topic so here goes......

Sorry but I'm going to bore you guys again with some observations and questions which hopefully you will be able to answer.

Leisure time - It must be difficult entertaining hundreds, (if not thousands, I don't know the size of the population at CH), of students in their time off. Are they left to entertain themselves or is most of it organised?
I can't imagine that each student will have a tv in their room so would I be right in thinking that there are lots of fights as to who gets to watch what on tv?

I recently found this quote on another website and it is from a parent considering sending their child to CH. Would anyone know how true (or false) this statement is?

'We observed far too many pupils looking fatigued, vulnerable, miserable and unkempt. The latter was awful in some cases e.g. badly worn out shoes - all that marching I suspect.

We found the staff, the Head included, very unwelcoming and aloof. There was not a glimmer of interest or enthusiasm from any of them. As for the resources, equipment etc, they were below what one would expect. I accept, that our expectations were perhaps a tad high, but these are legitimate issues. '

As I said, this is the Trivia room, so please feel free to place as much CH trivia as you want in here.

Thanks in advance

Well, Shoz; a lot of matters to answer!

What to do in time off? Quite honestly, in my day there wasn't much of that. Lets go through a typical weekday:

6.55 Wake up bell.
7.15. Dressed, sheets and blanket folded, mattress arched to air, Downstairs and forming up to march into Dining Hall.
7.30 breakfast
8.15 or so - back in house, bed made, formed up to march to chapel
9.00 Chapel finished, returned to house and collected books for first 2 periods, in class.
10.15 2nd period ends; back to house for PT
11.00 back in class for 3rd period
12.15 end of 4th period. Back to house.
12.50 formed up ready to march to lunch
2.or 2.30 - start of sport. This could be rugby, cricket, cross country running, swimming, fives for squits ........ (See also note below) For those stupid enough to get caught, the time after sport was about the only time available for doing monitors' punishments.
4.30 start of 5th period
about 6.00 supper
after supper, free time except for juniors who had to clean the ground floor (sweep, dust, polish ...., everyone had to clean shoes and coats for inspection ...............
7.15 prayers in house followed by homework
8.30 juniors to bed
9.00 or 9.30 senioirs to bed
From 9.30 to 10.30 monitors had the choice of free time or more homework

Note: Tuesday afternoon was hobbies time - everyone had to be out of houses doing hobbies of one type or another. (examples - scouts, radio club, model aircraft, bee-keeping with Mr Fryer (or messing about in his lab) ......)
Friday afternoon for 14 years old and upwards - CCF. That could be hard work.
Individuals could well have to squeeze other activities in - band practice after lesson 4 and before lunch. Trades monitors and those on Trades had to be in the Dining Hall 10 minutes before and after each meal to set and clear tables. (which meant getting up even more smartly). One of the boys had get up, dress etc in time to go to Chapel (I think it was) to ring the wake up bell at 5 to 7 in the morning. (I suspect most readers are now well into their second dream at that time)
AFAIR In summer afternoon classes were immediately after lunch
Depending on which house you were in, it could take up to 10 minutes to walk / run to the classrooms.
Times - I expect somebody will say I am 10 minutes out here or there but you get the gist, I hope.

Weekends: no afternoon classes on Saturday but sports could be extended. Occasionally a film in Big School. (These were usually cr*p and one evening it was so bad I left and returned to my house - 4 with the slipper for walking out!)
Sunday; chapel morning and evening. Perhaps an hour of free time in the morning and from 2 to 4pm we had to be out of the house. Letter writing from 4.30 to 5.30.

Half term? What was that - no time off lessons or normal activities. Parents or approved friends could visit the school for 2 weekend afternoons per term; we could even get permission to go into Horsham with them and gorge ourselves on iced cakes.

No going home during termtime except if a parent or sibling died or in case of serious injury (someone in my time had a fracture in a car crash and got time off). There were no other acceptable reasons; I had an invitation to crew on the STV Georg Staag out of Copenhagen for the Tall Ships Race but this was banned by the school even though I would have missed only 2 days at the end of term.
Keith Hildrew (Thorn B) and I received invitations to an investiture at Buck House; the initial school answer was No. Later they were persuaded to relent(I suspect when they realised the consequences should their decision get in the media).

de facto the academic demands were such that a number of us used to get up an hour or so early to get through the study. Equally "spare time" was often used up academically.
To give you an idea there was one classics master who was reputed never to have had a CH pupil fail an exam (his pupils didn't do A levels - they went on and did Scolarship level instead.) One of his pupils - Ashton on Col A - apparently ended up with 6 "S" levels! A pass was the equivalent of C grade today. In my own classes there were no failures in Physics and one in Chemistry at A level - classes of over 20 each.

We had no TV and the radio was allowed for 30 minutes from 6.45 to 7.15pm. (The Archers followed by In Town Tonight). (This was a house rule - not a school rule) Pop records were banned throughout the school and classic records would have to be examined if brought in.

A few comments: you could not leave the school grounds without permission - even to go to the Post Office which was 20 yards from the gate. In summer monitors and grecians could easily get permission to cycle off the school grounds on Sunday afternoons and, depending on your housemaster monitors could actually get away with a lot so long as they didn't get caught.

What with PT and sport, we were pretty fit - you simply didn't get tired. (One summer 3 of us cycled from school almost right round the UK stopping off for rockclimbing etc. , all without any training)
Worn out shoes; we had 2 pairs and the bockers would inspect and repair as necessary. AFAIR we had steel heel inserts so they didn't wear quickly; certainly I never came close to wearing out a pair of shoes.

We might have moaned amongst ourselves but to let a master let alone an outsider see/hear anything not totally positive would earn the slipper or cane.


Of course things are far softer now.

We lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank.....

sejintenej wrote:I had an invitation to crew on the STV Georg Staag out of Copenhagen for the Tall Ships Race but this was banned by the school even though I would have missed only 2 days at the end of term.

That's interesting - when I was at CH (Horsham) the school advertised for people to go on a 2 week STA trip - they paid half the cost. Five of us volunteered and missed a week of school - the other week was in the October half term.

I knew they had more fun at Horsham.

Our hours at Hertford were much the same but we didn't do any of the fun things like CCF. ( I would have been good at that) We marched to Sunday lunch only, without the benefit of a band, and we were bl**dy good.

I was a St John's Ambulance cadet at home, but was not allowed to do it at school. There might have been a Guide troop and we had a drama club.

I think we had a film once a term. My first term it was 'A Tale of Two Cities'. This was 1965 and the film was from 1958, very current.

Later we were allowed across the road to the cinema if a 'suitable' film was showing. I know we went to see 'Camelot' and I even had a poster of Franco Nero (Lancelot) on my bedroom wall. (and Steve McQueen)

'We observed far too many pupils looking fatigued, vulnerable, miserable and unkempt. The latter was awful in some cases e.g. badly worn out shoes - all that marching I suspect.

Were these people psycologists? How the hell do you observe someone looking vulnerable? miserable and unkempt - they're teenagers damn it!

Anyway, perhaps these peoplle were slightly more 'upmarket' than your typical CH family. You see Shoz, most of us were not that well off and shoes typically had to last until they could take no more.

all that marching?

graham wrote: Were these people psycologists? How the hell do you observe someone looking vulnerable? miserable and unkempt - they're teenagers damn it!

Anyway, perhaps these peoplle were slightly more 'upmarket' than your typical CH family. You see Shoz, most of us were not that well off and shoes typically had to last until they could take no more.

all that marching?

Yep, probably Aston Martin owners looking to indulge in a bit of 'creative accounting' to get their brats into C.H. on the quiet....

Still, we await with interest some information about the source of this quote.....

sejintenej, I will respond to your brilliant reply shortly so I can do it justice. Just the sort of information I wanted. Thanks.

I did a Google on CH exam results and came up with this. I have to say there are some glowing reports also.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... .php?t=156

shoz wrote: 'We observed far too many pupils looking fatigued, vulnerable, miserable and unkempt. The latter was awful in some cases e.g. badly worn out shoes

This would have been an apt description of some of the staff in my day....!

Actually, it was interesting reading that forum.

What's all this stuff about visiting and contacting offspring as often as possible? I understand that parents are concerned, but.......

Does anyone stop to consider the possibility that kids might have MORE problems settling in if mummy is always popping round, or is just a text away???

Constant mollycoddling isn't always a good idea.

Parents of new 2nd formers are asked not to make any contact other than by letter until first Leave weekend - i.e. about 3 weeks after they start.

It`s true though that it is more unsettling for the pupils AND their parents if visits are frequent.

I arrived in Maine B in time to experience a year and a term of the great Ken Grimshaw and shoe cleaning was integral part of his daily routine. We would have to have our shoes polished and be lined up in rows outside the side entrance on front ave by 7.15am and the house monitors would inspect. Anyone failing would have to reclean their shoes and report to the monitor after breakfast. Matt's dad continued the tradition after KHG left but I don't know if it survived beyond him.

Oh, and the use of liquid polish was most definitley discouraged!!!!

My last post didn't make it so here's the brief version:
I suspect this quote was meant to provoke rather than having a basis in reality. Why? Because we've seen 8 leading public schools since Easter, I finish my list in January 2006 and I can safely say that only one school has facilities and ressources that rival CH's.

If a parent was truly on the trail, I doubt CH's facilities would do anything less than impress as most prospective parents I have met around the country are dissillusioned with the facilities issue of choosing a school and rightly so.

Second up is usually how the Headmaster is incapable of talking to parents and answering queries. My advice for that is speak to the second master - they know everything usually and are very keen to chat. So what if the Head is aloof? I don't know him and it doesn't matter. The people who were key in my life were my Houseparents and my subject teachers.

David Brown wrote: "...bee-keeping with Mr Fryer (or messing about in his lab)..." Actually it was CF Kirby who kept bees and had a lab - Fryer was a different chap altogether.

One thing David forgot to mention in his otherwise very comprehensive reply was the "whole holiday" which took place in the Summer Term. We were allowed to go wherever we liked, provided that we stated very clearly where we were going and were back by a given time in the evening. It was almost always great fun and one year (1952 or 1953?) I went with two others to the Naval Air Station at Ford (now a prison!) where we went flying in an Avro Anson.

palgsm93 wrote: ... new Dr Martens (the official school shoes) are uncomfortable to begin with and take a lot of wearing in!

Are these designed to last?

I still have (and sometimes wear) a pair of Dr.Martens boots which I had when I was at C.H. !